This project examines the influence the presence of a person’s own smartphone has on cognitive performance.
The smartphone seems indispensable in today’s society. It enables constant access to information, entertainment and communication. Although smartphones have huge potential to simplify our life, their permanent presence can also have negative effects. Our cognitive resources are limited. We cannot do any number of things at once. Anyone constantly checking their smartphone for new messages has less capacity available to devote to other tasks. This project investigates the extent to which the presence of a person's own smartphone has an effect on short-term memory capacity.
The study takes place as an experiment in the context of experimental exercises in HS18 of the Bachelor's in Psychology at the University of Bern.
